Environment America Fellowship- New York, New York

Hours and Compensation: As a Fellow, you’ll earn $23,750 in your first year and $24,250 in your second year of the Fellowship.

Benefits: You’re eligible to opt into our group health plan. You accrue two weeks of paid vacation over the course of your first year, and an additional three weeks in your second year. You’re eligible to apply for college loan assistance after your third month, and to participate in our 401(k) plan at the end of your first year.

Position Dates: This position starts at the national training in early August and continues though August 2014. Positions available immediately in other locations.

Application Deadline: Apply Now

Organization Overview

With nearly 100 professional staff and 1 million members, activists and allies in 29 states and Washington, D.C., we make the case and build the support necessary to overcome the opposition and achieve results for the environment. We win changes at the state level and use them to build momentum for regional and national solutions to America’s biggest environmental problems.

The results of our work include more solar and wind power in 29 states; policies to cut energy use in 22 states; caps on global warming pollution in six states, and a regional cap on global warming pollution from power plants in 10 Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states; new clean car standards that will amount to the single biggest step this country has ever taken to end our addiction to oil; bans on plastic bags and Styrofoam containers; initial limits on the gas drilling industry to protect rivers and streams from the dangers of fracking; action to preserve, protect or expand national parks from Mt. Hood to the Everglades, from the Grand Canyon to Glacier; bans on offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic coast; and stronger protections for waterways from Puget Sound to the Great Lakes to the Chesapeake Bay.

We also conducted voter education and get-out-the-vote drives in 2008 and 2010, aimed at helping to elect President Obama and pro-environment members of Congress and state legislatures across the country. We’re continuing this work this fall.

Description

Whether we’re talking about clean energy or clean water, public lands or global warming, it’s going to take a lot more work to meet and overcome these environmental challenges. We need to keep making the case for smart, effective solutions. We need to run more campaigns to better inform the public, mobilize supporters to take action, and hold politicians accountable. We need to build broader and stronger coalitions. We need to train and develop more organizers, advocates and other leaders to keep building the public support that can sweep past the opposition and create a cleaner, greener, healthier future.

That’s where you come in.

Each year, Environment America hires passionate, talented and committed college graduates to join our two-year Fellowship Program. Over the last decade, fellows have worked side-by-side with our most experienced advocates and organizers to make a real difference for the environment.

Responsibilities

If you’re hired, you’ll learn to plan and run strategic state and national campaigns. You’ll learn how to identify effective solutions to critical environmental problems and organize public support for your campaigns. You’ll organize town hall meetings and rallies; get your message out by writing opinion pieces and getting them printed in major newspapers and on key websites; set up and speak at news conferences; lobby lawmakers; and run citizen outreach campaigns to educate the public, build membership and raise money for our work. You’ll recruit interns, activists, and staff to work alongside you. Bottom line: You’ll make a real difference.

You’ll learn by participating in classroom-style trainings throughout the year. You’ll get guidance and feedback from your staff director, and work alongside some of the nation’s top environmental advocates and organizers. Past fellows will tell you, though, that you will learn the most through hands-on experience.

Qualifications

We’re seeking candidates who are ready to commit their time, skills and passion to political action on behalf of the environment. We’re looking for people who understand that we need to build and wield political power if we’re going to make a real difference for the planet. Our Fellowship Program is not for everybody. It’s tough, demanding and the challenges never stop coming at you. We look for smarts, academic excellence, leadership experience, top-notch written and verbal skills, and an eagerness to learn. If you’ve worked with an environmental or political group before, even better.

Placement

Environment America is accepting applications for Fellowship positions in dozens of states across the country. If you want to work in a particular city, you can indicate that on your application. If you’re open to more than one city, you can tell us all of the cities you’re open to. If you’re wide open and ready to go anywhere, you can tell us that. It’s up to you. You’ll find a list of states we’re working in on our website.